Grants Division

The City of South Miami takes a proactive development role by seeking funding and other appropriate recognition/designations to elevate the visibility of the city, maintaining the city in the best possible position for investment; thereby reducing the overall tax burden on residents.  The Grants Division of the Finance Department functions within a responsibility triad as a critical part of the city’s efforts to effectively and efficiently capitalize on all appropriate funding opportunities.  

This triad consists of:

  • Grant Opportunity Research & Review
  • Grant Application Writing & Submission
  • Grants Administration

Recognizing that awards and designations positively impact the city’s positioning for investment, this responsibility is woven throughout the responsibility triad as warranted.

Research & Review
Grant Opportunity Research & Review is concerned with continual researching/reviewing of opportunities on the local, state and national level from public and private donors to address overall and specific needs of the city.  Once a potential source is identified, it must be reviewed and evaluated for appropriateness relative to the project, the city, and the timing.  This process is bilateral as either an opportunity or a project can be the launching point.

Writing & Submission
Grant Application Writing & Submission is concerned with the actual gathering of all needed information including attending funding training workshops, gathering all related materials, preparation of the application with supporting documents, and the timely submission of the application packages per individual guidelines set forth by the funding entity.  In addition, all application follow-up and monitoring activities throughout the review period are included.

Administration
Grants Administration is concerned with the effective and efficient administration of a project once it has been funded.  The grants administrator serves as facilitator between the funding entity and various departments within the city.  The multitude of details to be managed in this area presents unique challenges.  

Included in this area are:
 
  • Budget and scopes of service revisions
  • Resolution / ordinance writing and tracking
  • Contract review and execution
  • Internal coordination of information dissemination and account creation
  • Submission of reports to funders (e.g. Status Reports, Annual Reports, Financial Audit Reports, and Minority Business Reports)
  • Reimbursement requests
  • Monitoring for timely submission of contract deliverables